World Cup: Brazil 2 Korea DPR 1

This was probably the most enjoyable match of the tournament so far. The football wasn’t always sparkling, but this was more than compensated by the (surprising to most) excellence of the Korean team, who stuck at their task throughout even when heads could understandably have dropped.

Brazil played decent football, Robinho in particular starting impressively, and they settled into periods of possession interspersed with rapid Korean counter attacks.

But Dunga’s side found themselves up against perhaps the most motivated team we have seen in the World Cup so far. Jong Tae-Se was seen in tears during the national anthem, and was a threat with his direct running.

0-0 at half time had the pundits looking slightly desperately at their notes, but the simple fact was that Korea were far better than their non-existent research had permitted them to believe.

Ten minutes into the second half Brazil finally broke the deadlock through that notorious goalscorer Maicon, whose narrow angle strike was slightly reminiscent of Rivelino’s famous goal all those years ago.

It wasn’t as good as that, and there was enough evidence to suggest that it was meant to be a driven cross, but the competition needs all the spark it can get, so I’m calling it intentional.

There was nothing unintentional about the second in the 73rd minute, Robinho with the pass of the tournament so far to split the defence, and Elano with a cool finish.

And that was that. Or at least it should have been.  A long ball into the area on 89 minutes was headed back into the path of Ji Yun-Nam who burst past a defender and finished well beyond Julio Cesar.

So the world was delighted with Korea DPR, but far less so with Kaka, who jogged about a bit and occasionally attempted a pass in the manner of someone who’s still working off a ploughman’s lunch.  The lifestyles of the rich and the famous, eh?

Given how much was resting on this match between the two good-but-not-Brazilian teams in the Group of Death, it’s no surprise that the game fizzled out into a draw.  Both sides will try and put as many past North Korea (sorry, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and then see what can be done against Brazil, if anything.

There was much focus before the match on Didier Drogba, or more accurately the cast upon Didier Drogba’s right arm, the one he broke less than two weeks ago.  As it happened Chelsea’s Brave Didier Drogba started from the bench.  So that left Ronaldoooooo, who obliged his watching and drooling media sycophants by hitting the post from 25 yards and diving about like Greg Louganis the rest of the time.

Oh, and there was Sven, who has evidently found a way to resolve some of the problems that turned Ivory Coast into a disorganised rabble during the African Cup of Nations, if this game is anything to go by at least.  If Drogba continues to improve, they will become more of a handful.

Otherwise, this was a disjointed, niggly sort of a game, and the opinion of the masses is beginning to crystalize at the “pants” end of the World Cup Thrillometer.  Granted we have yet to see a six goal thriller, but neither do goals necessarily equal quality.

Once the teams get into the second and third rounds of group matches we will start to see better quality, but the first match is one for getting a result, any result to ensure that you aren’t playing catchup.  Historically very few teams have qualified for the knockout rounds after losing their first group match, so it is no surprise to see plenty of cagey matches at this point.

What do they know of punditry, who only punditry know?

OK, so a “re-imagined” quote, but this is a question that we should all be pondering after listening to Hansen A. moaning endlessly about the quality of Slovakian play.  They were “dire”, “poor”, “unbelievably poor”, “terrible” and “dreadful” all in the space of 89 minutes.  In the other minute they were busy scoring a goal, so I assume that doesn’t count towards the tally.

But compared to the general standard at the World Cup so far, they were alright.  Not great, just alright.  New Zealand impressed the neutrals by being “organised” and “disciplined”, it being strongly implied that this was remarkable considering that many of their players perform in the non-professional New Zealand league.  Leo Bertos even played in the Football Conference proving, apparently, that there was such a thing as romance at the World Cup.

The thought that part-timers could put up a decent fight has obviously been forgotten by the BBC since they lost their FA Cup broadcast rights to ITV.  As had the fact that only four members of the squad, and one of the starting XI actually play at that level.  They actually boast two Premier League players, four from the Championship and one each from the SPL, MLS and the Danish Superligaen, but you’d never have known it from the patronising coverage we are so used to from Auntie.

If you were sick of listening to Hansen’s diatribes, you could make use of the red button to listen into some shouting and jingles from Chris Moyles and the ironically named “Comedy” Dave.  On second thoughts, I’ll pass thanks.

So yes, those likeable chaps from Aortearoa managed to put up a fight, and even cause trouble from crosses and set pieces.  Slovakia held the balance of the play as the 1st half went on, and were neat and tidy enough to cause problems, although they were helped by nervous goalkeeping from Mark Paston (ex-Bradford City, Walsall & St. Johnstone).

Five minutes into the second half, the Slovaks took the lead, Robert Vittek converting a cross from Sestak with his head.  For long periods, that appeared to be that.  New Zealand pushed forward without creating much, Slovakia had a few half-chances but never looked like they were prepared to try and force the issue, and the game was winding down to a 1-0 finish.

Then came stoppage time, and two chances for New Zealand.  The first was wasted by Shane Smeltz, heading wide when unmarked.  Soon after he made amends, supplying a good cross for Winston Reid to glance beyond Jan Mucha.

Slovakia hardly had time to respond, and so the All-Whites secured their first ever point at a World Cup finals.  As did the Slovaks, actually, but they won’t be so happy about it.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that Italy made a slow start to the World Cup.  It is as much a part of their footballing culture as it is England’s.  They looked sluggish in a first half, defended poorly at a set piece to concede the goal and replace Gigi Buffon at half time with a mystery injury.

Paraguay were solid, as Paraguayan teams generally tend to be, without being spectacular.  This was no surprise.  On the other hand it was no surprise to see the Italians, having switched formation to 4-4-2, improve a snatch an equaliser just after the hour.  Poor goalkeeping was to blame at a corner, and de Rossi slid home from a few yards out.

So we learned almost nothing from this game.  Italy will almost certainly win the group, and Paraguay have a good chance of joining them in the next round.

We knew that there were problems for Italy, with an ageing squad, but we also knew that they love World Cups and generally find themselves after two or three matches.  They’ll find a way to get themselves to the quarter final, just you watch.

This was a game that will be remembered more for it’s headlines than the football.  Keisuke Honda scored the goal that wrote a thousand headlines, and late on Cameroon had a go, but otherwise this was a match with very limited action.  Japan had set themselves up to defend, as is their habit, and Cameroon lacked the nous to break them down, as is their habit.

There seems to be a notion at this World Cup that all of the western African teams are strong and will pose a threat.  Anyone who paid attention to the African Cup of Nations will know that, Ghana aside, this is not the case.  Yes, Cameroon possess Samuel Eto’o, but they lack cohesion and drive.  The omission of Arsenal’s Alex Song from this contest was hard to understand as was Paul le Guen’s inertia when it was clear that Japan were defending very comfortably for long periods even before they scored.

Opinions on le Guen are divided.  Yes, he had success with Lyon, but his stint at Rangers was an unmitigated disaster.  With Cameroon the question marks are intensifying.  Talented players, but not such a talented team.

With matches against Holland and Denmark, it suddenly becomes difficult to see Cameroon progressing from Group E without significant improvement.  Japan at least have 3 points at their disposal, and if Cameroon get a result against Denmark, they will be hopeful of going through.  On the other hand, so will Denmark if they can beat Cameroon and take on the Japanese in a shoot-out.